A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 384 Better to take the straightforward than the crooked.

"Don't those high-ranking and powerful officials know what will happen and what the consequences will be if they push me too far?"

Fenwu spoke as if no one else was around, asking and answering his own questions:
"Of course they know, they know better than anyone else. They know what contributions I have made to the social stability of Kyushu, and they also know that once my arrangements are broken, a hundred ghosts will roam the night overnight. Even with Lan Shiwen, who can 'foresee the future,' there will be no way to avoid the devastation of life."

“But they don’t care.” Fenwu continued, “The nobles who have been granted titles are only thinking about their power lasting for thousands of generations. To achieve this, they need to eliminate all potential threats to themselves. Compared to their immortality, what do the common people matter?”

I'll let the common people suffer, so I can enjoy eternal bliss.

"So, go kill Lan Shiwen, let him go back to the past with what he has seen and heard, and tell my past self that we can make peace."

"Then, I will kill all the authorized nobles in Kyushu within 1 Planck of time. My past self has not yet been exposed by Taiyi and still holds the power to change reality. You know I can do it."

Fenwu handed the dagger to Ning Zhe again: "And this is what Xiaolan wants to see too."

Ning Zhe looked down at the dagger Fenwu handed him and suddenly smiled: "Interesting."

If you were to ask who in the world today hates aristocratic families the most and most wants to kill all the powerful and wealthy, there is no doubt that it is Lan Shiwen. If Fenwu really does kill all the authorized nobles as soon as he rewinds the game, as he says, the happiest person will definitely be Lan Shiwen.

So... was this also part of your calculations, Xiaolan?

Ning Zhe could no longer distinguish whether the current confusing situation was Lan Shiwen's scheme or Fenwu's lie, but fortunately, he didn't need to.

Ning Zhe still did not take the dagger handed to him by Fenwu, but said with a smile: "I admit that what you said is very convincing. A tragic character who hides behind the scenes and silently eliminates the strange and contributes to society for decades is indeed a very good character setting. If it were me who was just starting out, I might really be convinced by you."

Fenwu frowned slightly; he knew Ning Zhe was about to say "but."

“But I won’t believe you.” Ning Zhe said calmly, “I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely will not believe anything you say. Every word and every punctuation mark that comes out of your mouth, I will absolutely, absolutely, absolutely harbor the greatest malice and the worst suspicion.”

“This is the mental imprint I’ve placed on myself,” Ning Zhe added casually. “If you want me to do as you say, then try to remove this imprint.”

As Ning Zhe finished speaking, the empty town center fell into an eerie silence once again. The Four-Faced Buddha calmly watched the two people standing face to face in the square, his chiseled face showing neither joy nor sorrow.

Fenwu shook his head using Xiao Tao's body and chuckled, "Although I tried my best to think highly of you, I didn't expect that I would still underestimate you."

“Your purpose is very clear. You know exactly what you want, and no external factors can interfere with your pursuit of your goal. You… are very good.” Fenwu withdrew the dagger he had handed over.

Ning Zhe didn't care about the so-called common people, nor did he care about the power struggles among the nobles of the Nine Provinces. He didn't even care about the existence of this world itself. A world of five turbidities? A world of a hundred ghosts walking at night? He didn't care at all.

From beginning to end, Ning Zhe only cared about one thing—could Tai Chong's rules for erasing memories erase Jue Yuan's mental imprint?
Or to put it another way: Can Taisui become the next piece of the puzzle to make up for the deficiency of Jueyuan?

This was the only issue Ning Zhe cared about.

Verifying the rules of the Great Evil and finding a way to continue on the path of ascension—this is the only thing Ning Zhe cares about. Nothing and no one else, not even if the world were to be destroyed on the spot, could shake the slightest thought in Ning Zhe's mind.

“Come on, Fenwu.” Ning Zhe opened his arms, and an ordinary smile appeared on his otherwise unremarkable face: “As long as you can erase the mental imprint I’ve placed on myself, I’ll do as you say.”

So, can you do it? Furious?

Fenwu didn't answer his question. Ning Zhe only saw Xiao Tao smile at him, then close her eyes, her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness. He was gone.

Ning Zhe squatted down and reached out to touch Xiao Tao's forehead. Her head was completely empty. Fen Wu had erased all the memories in her mind, leaving not even a possible clue.

“It’s just an empty shell again.” Ning Zhe shook his head and stood up.

He still retains that ordinary, unremarkable face, an image that is a composite of multiple identities, including 'Fenwu in Lan Shiwen's perception', 'Fenwu in Ji Bochang's perception', 'Fenwu in Taiyi's perception', and so on.

"Nianjun," Ning Zhe called softly.

A slender figure in crimson crimson appeared beneath the Four-Faced Buddha's eyelids. Her face, as pale as paper, was devoid of features, and her hands were clasped in front of her lower abdomen, her delicate white fingertips clutching a dry, ancient almanac.

[The second day of the eighth lunar month]

[Suitable for: cleaning, trading, opening a business, hanging plaques, and offering sacrifices]

[Avoid: Planting, logging, raising livestock, burial, and funeral processions]

This is today's fortune.

"call……"

Ning Zhe took a deep breath, came to He Nianjun's side, reached out and picked up a yellowed page, and gently turned it to tomorrow.

As the almanac was turned to tomorrow, Ning Zhe's body suddenly froze, and the features on his otherwise unremarkable face twisted slightly. Ning Zhe glanced up at the Four-Faced Buddha, said nothing, and silently turned another page of the almanac.

wow-

The almanac has been turned to the day after tomorrow.

It was midday, the sun was blazing, and in broad daylight, under the clear sky, the young woman in her wedding dress stood quietly. In front of the Four-Faced Buddha, Ning Zhe turned another page of the almanac.

With a whoosh, despite it being a bright and sunny midday, Ning Zhe suddenly felt an indescribable chill creep up his spine and into his torso, the biting cold causing his hands to tremble slightly.

Ning Zhe paused for a moment, then smiled again: "Getting impatient."

Page after page, page after page, was turned over and over again. Ning Zhe could sense a kind of emotion called anger, but this anger did not come from Fenwu, but from—the Snake God.

The serpent god Zhao You, who controls fortune and misfortune, had long been imprinted with the ideology of "I am Ning Zhe" by Jue Yuan. Therefore, the serpent god's anger is also Ning Zhe's anger.

He was angry that his rules had been violated.

As the pages of the almanac were rapidly flipped through, Ning Zhe felt an even greater chill, as if he had reached a critical point. The features on his face gradually blurred, like a damp portrait painting, the wet paint spreading and distorting on the paper into a shape that could no longer be called "human".

Ning Zhe remained unmoved and continued to peruse the almanac.

It's better to take the straightforward path than to seek the crooked one!
(End of this chapter)